In this week's portion Moses speaks to the Israelite community and conveys the message that we are to keep the Sabbath Holy. Moses calls upon the people to collect gifts of gold, silver copper, fine linens and other valuables for sacrifices and for the making of the tabernacle. In essence this is a calling on God's people to sacrifice material things for holy causes. What does it mean to set aside a day for holiness? What is the definition of Holiness and what does it mean to be Holy. And why does this portion call upon the people and us to sacrifice material wealth?

I want to share with you this evening a few insights I gained on the meaning of Holiness in an 8-week course I attended with the Mussar Institute in 2018. The commentary from my course notes are as follows: Let me start with some disappointing news. While the term Kidusha or Holiness appears 830 times in Tenach and 9340 times in the Babylonian Talmud, nowhere within the Torah do we find a definition of holiness. Not a single Jewish scholar has been able to define the term. What we do know is that holiness is not of the material world in which we live. Holiness is a spiritual quality that we cannot fully perceive with our earthly bodily senses. But if we take time to look around us Kadosh, Kadosh Kadosh Adonai Tzavyahth Melo Kol Ha'aretz Kevo Do—Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole world is full of God's glory. Indeed, we can see holiness in the faces of others who commit holy acts, as well as in places such as the Big Bend National Park, the Holy land of Israel or even closer to home I feel holiness listening to the birds and the flow of the river on a warm summer day along the banks of the Guadalupe. We can see and feel a sense of holiness in objects such as the Torah and the Ark in which it is housed. And we can make TIME holy by setting aside the sabbath and making it a day that is separate from the other busy mundane days of the week.

And Yet beyond a clear definition, (similar to way in which there is no real definition of GOD) HOLINESS retains a sense of aura and mystery. Yet perhaps this lack of definition is O.K. since the goal is not to define holiness, but rather the goal is to be holy. One of the most well-known references to Holiness is found in Lev 19:2 You Shall be Holy for I the Lord your God am Holy. What does this mean?

The Rabbi's and commentators over millennium have reminded us that because God is holy, we are to look to Torah for the examples of God's actions and we are to emulate those actions ourselves. God clothed Adam and Eve, visited Abraham when he was sick, comforted the mourning Isaac and buried Moses upon his death. These were holy acts that we are called to follow in our own lives. While we may not have a clear definition of holiness which remains somewhat mystical, in the cloud, and not of this world, we are given the paths to follow.

Is this easy? No. We live in a world where our earthly pleasures take over our lives and supplant our spiritual aspirations. Who among us even thinks about holiness as we go about our lives tied to technology and material things, yearning for the latest IPhone, setting our sights on moving up to a bigger and better job or buying a new and bigger home? The human tendency to emphasize our earthly pleasures is not limited to modern times. Rabbi David Kimchi writing in 11^th Century France, noted that even in his time "Not one in 1000 prioritizes spiritual matters as our principal pursuit." So again, what does it mean to be holy?

The 12^th century Medieval French Scholar and commentator RASHI interpreted the calling in Leviticus 19:2 "You Shall be Holy" as the need to separate ourselves from any behavior that defiles our purity. Mastery over our sexual urges, would, in RASHI's view, be key to becoming holy. Taken further, RASHI's interpretation leads to the conclusion that any steps we take to eliminate defiling behavior (lying, cheating, worshipping money and material things) are steps towards holiness.

Roughly 125 years after the time of RASHI, the Spanish commentator Rabbi Moses ben Nachman otherwise known as Nachmanides or the RAMBAN, stated that RASHI did not go far enough in his definition of Kedusha or Holiness. RAMBAN's view was that it is not enough to separate ourselves from defiling actions, but in fact we also need to sanctify or make holy even activities that are permissible in Torah. Put simply, pleasures such as eating good food, drinking wine or in our times enjoying a trip to Tahiti are all activities that are permitted in Torah, but we are not to eat, drink or enjoy luxuries to extremes and in unholy ways even if such activities are not explicitly prohibited. In RAMBAN's view all pleasures should be enjoyed in moderation and should be set aside or sanctified to God. Can you identify anything you do in a way that is either defiling or overdone and inimical to holiness?

And thus, what can we do to bring Holiness into our lives? Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto, the RAMCHAL writing in his classic 18^th century work Mesillat Yesharim or Path of the Upright states that the journey towards holiness requires us to take every opportunity to be good, humble, ethical, caring, generous and kind. We are to elevate ourselves and place our Godly actions above our earthly desires.

Much like the way Moses physically ascended Mt. Sinai, we are to spiritually ascend towards holiness which is the top rung of the ladder on our journey through life. But even if we act in accordance with God's ways, holiness, according to the RAMCHAL, is not guaranteed as it comes down to us in this world as a gift from God.

In this week's Parashah we are called to set aside the Sabbath as a reminder that God's presence is at the center of our lives. In the Parashah our people (and we) are asked to sacrifice some of our material wealth as a reminder that the collection of material things, love of self, and realizing our earthly desires is not our highest calling.

Rabbi Shimon Shkop writing in 19^th Century Lithuania, described the conflict between love of self and doing good for others as like competing "co-wives." And yet, because we are made b'Tzelem Elohim, in the divine image, we must constantly hold as our purpose, the sanctification of our physical and spiritual powers for the good of the many. After all, each and every moment that God allows the Universe to exist, God is selflessly looking out for the good of the many. Rabbi Shkop notes that the path of holiness is defined by us dedicating our lives to a a God conscious, unselfish manner.

In Path of the Upright, the RAMCHAL writes that we must be an active agent in bringing holiness into our lives and into our broken world. We are, in his words to be good, humble, ethical, caring, generous and kind. And if we do so we will learn about holiness in the most powerful way possible which is when it registers in our own hearts directly from our own experience. And that learning will serve to guide our own journey so that one day perhaps, others may see the face of God or holiness in us!

The commentary above is based on notes, paraphrases and quotations taken from a course on Kedusha offered by The Mussar Institute and attended by the author in 2018. The author attributes the ideas and quotations expressed in this piece to Alan Morinis and The Mussar Institute (TMI).

כן יהי רצון

Ken Yehi Ratzon. May this be God's will.